Skip to Main Site Navigation Skip to Content Skip to Footer
Back To Top

 

Eastern Ad-Hoc Budget Committee
Minutes
November 4, 2011
Connecticut Room, Gelsi-Young Hall


Attendance: Pat Banach, David Cummings, Jim Howarth, Drew Hyatt, Kristin Jacobi, Terry Lennox, Jian Lin, Diane Moore, Elsa Núñez, Katie Roome, Dimitrios Pachis, Michael Pernal, William Salka, David Stoloff.

Absent: Dave Bachand, Karyl Bulmer, Pat Christadore, Karen Collins, Suzanne Dowling, Dennis Hannon, Brian Lashley, David Mariasi, William Newelll, Robert Wolf.

Meeting Commenced at 10:00 a.m.

Motion to accept the minutes of the previous meeting (Cummings, Banach – Passed)

Welcome and Board of Regents Update – President Núñez

  • Dr. Robert Kennedy, president of the Board of Regents, and Lewis Robinson, chair of the Board of Regents, visited campus on Monday, October 31. The University was able to open due largely to the efforts of Nancy Tinker and the Facilities staff. Dr. Kennedy and Mr. Robinson were able to tour the campus, including the new Work Hub, which is unique to Eastern. They were briefed on the Master Plan and seemed supportive of the Fine Arts Building as the last stage of new construction in the plan. They also met with students, faculty, staff, town officials and reporters from area newspapers. The Norwich Bulletin ran a very positive story on the visit that was picked up by several other papers
    in the state. Overall the visit was very informative and positive.

 FY 2012 Budget Status – Jim Howarth

  • The budget for FY 2012 has been approved by the Board of Trustees and Board of Regents.
  • We are currently reviewing the activity from our fall semester for enrollment, housing and food services to determine where we have variances and what needs to be focused on for the spring semester.
  • At this time, we are on target for FT undergraduate students. However, the mix of in-state and out-of-state is less favorable than we budgeted again this year. Graduate enrollment is also down. Part-time is currently running above the budgeted credit hours.
  • We are working with the Enrollment Management Committee to target increased transfer students for the spring.
  • Operating expenses at this time appear to be near the budgeted level and should be adequate to meet the needs of our students.
  • We continue to be careful of the positions approved, as the Governor does have the ability to make an additional reduction of 5 percent at any time if the economy of the state deteriorates. A 5 percent cut would be roughly $2 million.
  • With the switch to credit card convenience fees, experience to date is as projected with a large switch to ACH payments (68%), credit cards (23%), and debit cards (9%). The transition has produced some problems but has been successful overall.

Work $mart Review – Pat Banach

  • The program that solicits money saving ideas from the community was brought back last year and the Work Smart Committee was formed. Members were: Pat Banach (chair), Ed Figiela, Ellen Gillette, Jim Howarth, Greg Kane, Diane Moore, Reece Painter-Payne (student), Bill Salka.
  • The Committee created a website, sharepoint and survey tool to solicit and handle suggestions. All suggestions were reviewed by the Committee and a member was assigned to direct the suggestion to the appropriate person on campus for a response. The response was then edited and posted for the community to see. Overall, ten previous suggestions and sixty-six new suggestions were addressed by the Committee.
  • It was suggested that the program be put on hold for this year and revisited next year to determine whether it makes sense to bring it back. It was also suggested that the next round might indicate that monetary savings from the process will be earmarked for specific programs, such as student scholarships, purchasing equipment or providing faculty travel.

New Business: General Discussion – All

  • There was a report that there may be a movement in the legislature to reduce the use of contractors on campus.
  • It was suggested that we, as a University, should do more to get freshmen and sophomores thinking about their career plans and developing professional skills, as this might help them understand the real world applicability of their liberal arts education. One suggestion was to have all students applying for an on-campus job submit a cover letter and resume. Then, once in that job, have their supervisor talk to them about appropriate dress and professional demeanor.

Next meeting will be held on December 2 at 11 a.m. in the Student Center, Room 217.

Meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

 

William Salka